Deadline: December 13th 2023 | Sustainable Food Solutions Challenge 2024
| Title: | Sustainable Food Solutions Challenge 2024 |
| Organisation: | MassChallenge |
| Fund/Grant; | 1,000 CHF |
| Deadline; | 13th December 2023 |
| Eligible countries: | All |
Present your idea to seven of the top food companies for a chance at a pilot project or financial investment. The contest for matching pairs you with the ideal partner to grow with. For the Sustainable Food Solutions Challenge 2024, submit your application now.
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In addition to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, combining supply-side measures like efficient production, transportation, and processing with demand-side interventions like changing dietary preferences and minimising food loss and waste can help feed the world’s estimated 9.8 billion people by the year 2050.
MassChallenge thinks businesses and entrepreneurs can support this initiative. When it comes to presenting novel, disruptive ideas, startups can be particularly useful. In order to quickly improve society and scale these concepts, corporations might be very important.
The following partners are seeking startups or scaleups with proven solutions or technologies in the fields of sustainable food and feed solutions, sustainable supply chain & manufacturing, sustainable packaging & materials, and agritech: Bühler Group, Givaudan, Nestlé, dsm-firmenich, Louis Dreyfus Company, Omya, and Südzucker.
Benefits
- Together, corporate partners and startups work to lead global influence and promote change in the direction of a sustainable world. Together, they are able to collaborate on this challenge, produce a combined pitch, and scale up creative solutions more quickly than they could have done separately.
- Each and every startup taking part in the Challenge will receive:
- An easy technique to reach multinational companies: In the event that you are selected for further consideration by the partners, MassChallenge will put you in contact with managers of open innovation, business unit leaders, sustainability executives, and senior R&D personnel. You will speak with the appropriate people in these organisations, get their undivided attention right away, and look into working together.
- Being able to grow your technologies alongside them: Following the first meeting, they anticipate a thorough information exchange that will probably be governed by a non-disclosure agreement.
- Following that, they envision a collaborative pilot project to assess the product’s scalability. Startups might subsequently be hired by the company as suppliers, partners in joint ventures, or recipients of funding. Every decision is entirely up to the startup and corporate, and neither party is required to move further unless they so want.
- Publicity and further connections: one company from each corporate partner’s nominated startups will be invited to the MassChallenge Sustainable Food Solutions Challenge Day, the flagship event, in June 2024. There, the startup and their corporate partner will pitch to all of the corporate partners their collaborative solution on feeding the globe sustainably, hopefully leading in new relationships and the possibility of working with other corporates. Press releases from MassChallenge and a few of the business partners about this event will be distributed, giving the entrepreneurs prominence. A grant of 1,000 CHF will be given to chosen entrepreneurs to help with event travel expenses.
Eligibility
They seek out new businesses and scale-ups that:
- Possess an idea or product that is in the prototype stage or that has a data-backed working proof of concept (Technical Readiness Level 5, where the technology has been validated in an appropriate setting).
- Conform strategically to the partners. Startups have the option to indicate which partner(s) in particular are a strategic fit for their solution in the application form. What matters most when talking with a partner is being willing to work together and grow your idea.
- Range from series C+ to seed. It is crucial that your product is at least in the prototype phase or has a data-supported working proof of concept. You might have some traction and sales already. This allows them to confirm that your product is needed and that you are prepared to collaborate with the business partners. Working with the corporate partner to scale your technology is the next stage.
- Possess Viable, Scalable, and Impactful Ideas:
- Impactful: to significantly improve society by obtaining value while lowering the food value chain’s overall CO2 footprint and emissions;
- Scalable: able to grow in the agricultural, manufacturing, distribution, or disposal stages of food production. Viable: able to show traction among consumers, producers, and their supply base (including farmers).
- Originate from any region. But keep in mind that since the partner companies have their headquarters in Europe, much of the physical collaboration would take place there. It is important for startups to make sure they can get to Europe for talks. There will be an online component to the selecting process.
How Does the Task Operate?
- Partner corporations will be supplied with eligible applicants;
- The chosen startups will be invited to meet with executives in R&D, open innovation, sustainability, and business units to discuss further and assess the possibility of working together. They anticipate that this will lead to partnerships, investments, and proof of concepts for a number of the startups;
- Apart from the aforementioned, every partner will designate a single start-up to present their collaborative proposal during the MassChallenge Sustainable Food Solutions Challenge Day in June 2024, which will be attended by all corporate partners. It is expected that partners and startups will collaborate to scale the startups’ ideas through the partners’ businesses after this physical event in Switzerland.
For more information, visit MassChallenge.
